Drawing By Giuseppe Bernardino Bison (1762-1844)

Giuseppe Bernardino BISON (1762-1844)
"Frise de postes à décor végétal et anthropomorphe"
"Gondola" verso
Pen and wash on paper
Signed lower left Bison
Collection stamp of Giorgio Dalla-Bella
22 x 12 cm

Born June 16, 1762 in Palmanova, Giuseppe Bernardino Bison is renowned for his paintings
with historical themes, whimsical genre scenes, as well as his
imaginary landscapes, notably his vedute fantaisistes and capricci. His style was inspired by the great
Venetian masters, in particular Giambattista Tiepolo and Francesco Guardi.
His family moved to Brescia, where he began his training in Gerolamo Romani's studio. He
then continued his apprenticeship in Venice, where he became close to Canaletto's workshop.
The bulk of his work can be found in Venice and several surrounding cities, including
Ferrare, Trieste and Padua.
Giuseppe Bernardino Bison died on August 24, 1844 in Milan.

Dr. Giorgio Dalla Bella worked as an agent for the import and export of
chemical and pharmaceutical products for forty-five years. He began a collection of
antique Italian and other school drawings in 1953. In 1996, when he owned around 1200
drawings, he decided to part with 600 sheets. Today, his collection consists mainly of Venetian and Lombard
drawings. Dalla Bella buys his sheets on the art market but also
from other collectors. In his collection, we find a good number of sheets from
the collection of Cesare Frigerio (L.4363), such as a drawing by Andrea Appiani
(Flavia Ormond Fine Arts, catalog no. 4, New York 1997, no. 15).
One of the drawings sold by Giorgio Dalla Bella passed through the collection of the lawyer Umberto
Osio (1891-1967) and is now at the Istituto Nazionale per la Grafica in Rome (inv. FN
16829), while a few others are in the collection of Gianfranco and Mario Mela.
The collection mark, which consists of the initials 'db' back to back, was affixed as early as 1960.
Sources:
P.P. Quieto, ed., Il disegno come genesi della pittura. 120 antichi fogli dal XVI al XIX secolo dalle Raccolte
Mela arricchite da disegni già di Collezione Grassi, Florence 2004, p. 345 (ill. mark).
P. Parigi, 'Marche di collezione e contrassegni', in Rome 2006: L'Artista e il suo atelier. I disegni
dell'acquisizione Osio all'Istituto Nazionale per la Grafica, cat. by G. Fusconi and A. Canevari, Istituto
Nazionale per la Grafica, Palazzo Fontana di Trevi, Rome 2006, p. 210, no. 40 (ill. mark, as not
identified).